England warned to avoid clashes when they play Pakistan in new year

The England squad who play Pakistan in the new year will be under instruction
from the England and Wales Cricket Board to avoid clashing with the
opposition in what administrators fear could become a powder-keg series.

England will play three Tests, four one-day internationals and three Twenty-20 matches against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in January and February, the first competitive meeting between the sides since the events of last summer. They played a warm-up match before the World Cup in February.

The ECB is concerned that a major confrontation could overshadow attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of Pakistan cricket and repair the relationship between the two sides.

The spot-fixing allegations caused huge tension last summer.

The England players considered not taking the field at one point during the rancorous one-day series that followed the fixed Test at Lord’s. Tensions came to a head during the one-day international at Lord’s when Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz clashed in the nets, with Trott grabbing Riaz by the throat following an exchange of words.

The ECB fears a repeat would be hugely damaging to the game as it tries to move on from the corruption case that saw Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir jailed on Thursday.

The players will be told to try and ensure the games are played in the right spirit and that a major incident is avoided. Telegraph Sport understands that ECB will discuss the issue with the Pakistan Cricket Board prior to the series.

Given the history between the sides and the intense schedule tensions may be inevitable, particularly given England’s combative approach. Their recent one-day series in India was bad-tempered, with India accusing England of over-stepping the mark with their sledging.

The jailing of three players will provide England with plenty of ammunition should they choose to adopt a similar approach to a Pakistan side likely to include some who featured in the tarnished Lord’s Test.

The games are being played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as Pakistan cannot host matches because of security concerns. They have not played any full international matches in their own country since March 2009 when the Sri Lanka team’s bus was attacked by gunmen in Lahore.